One of the things I’ve made a regular habit of doing from early on is trying my best to learn from others.
However, early on in my ministry I took the wrong approach when trying to do this because I thought that during my journey to learn that at some point I would be meeting with a mentor, he would say something profound…and the fact or formula that came out of his mouth would completely change my life.
That line of thinking led me to ask mentors questions like these…
- How do you prepare sermons?
- Tell me about your typical week.
- How do you lead meetings?
- How is your leadership team structured?
Let me be clear…NOTHING is wrong with asking these type of questions…IF we are seeking INFORMATION; however, when we ask these questions because we want to be some sort of carbon copy…OR because we think that switching the time we study is what will unleash some sort of anointing on our messages…we are in trouble.
I discovered personally that I was asking the right questions…but for the wrong reasons. I wanted to know what others were doing so I could be LAZY…so I could buy into IMITATION of who they were instead of relying on the REVELATION of God and HIS direction for my life.
I still ask these questions to people…I am still trying to learn…but Jesus has changed my heart in that finally…after 20 years of being a Christian…I really want to be who HE is shaping me to be…and for that to happen I need to beg Him to reveal Himself to me…and figure out how HE has designed me to function.
I would say the same thing to every pastor/church leader…figure it out.
- It doesn’t matter WHEN someone else prepares for their message…when does God want you to prepare? (I study best in the mornings…others study best at night…figure it out.)
- It doesn’t matter WHAT my typical week looks like…what does God want YOURS to look like? (If our gifts are different…then our week will look a lot different!)
- It doesn’t matter HOW I lead meetings…how does God want you to lead a meeting? (It will depend on your gifting and the people you have around you.)
- It doesn’t matter HOW we are structured…how does God want you to structure?
I could go on…the deal is that God has called every leader to be unique…NOT a carbon copy of someone else. And while we should learn from everyone we should try to be like no one…other than Jesus!
Church leader…figure it out! (This is most often accomplished by a series of failures that eventually lead to success. AND…what I’ve discovered is that as soon as you figure it out…THINGS CHANGE…why, because I believe God always wants us at a point where we are desperate for Him instead of dependant on our system!)